Three more shots from Dartmoor

I said in my post the other day that I'd been working in the digital darkroom. These shots have made it through and out the other side.

I'd love to get your feedback on your initial impact.

Distant Haze

Houses on Dartmoor

Looking towards Tavistock and some distant hills and tors of Dartmoor. Houses nestle amongst some trees beyond a large expanse of prickly gorse, in an otherwise deserted landscape.

Grazing ponies

Grazing Dartmoor Ponies

Shooting into the sun can be quite challenging as this shot proves. Often, the loss of detail caused by the high contrast ruins the shot but in this one I think it suits and complements the composition.What do you think?

A Dartmoor legend

...and now for a bit of fun :)

There is a legend on Dartmoor of a headless horseman—well this is the lesser known one of the headless pony!

The Headless Pony of Dartmoor

No, not a trick in Photoshop, just a bit of luck and some careful positioning of your photographer!

comments / critique / feedback always welcome :)

Stumble It!

Felixstowe visit over winter

Caught In The Surf

I was pleased with the way this shot turned out. Firstly, the sky was doing some wonderful things, with beams of sunlight breaking through the clouds. The surf looked good and I had a good, if unplanned subject. The lad was playing "chicken" with the surf and I knew there would be lots of opportunities if I was quick.

Because I was shooting into the sun, I knew that there would be a few challenges to overcome. Apart from catching the action, I knew lens flare could be a problem, even with the lens hood attached, and that exposure would have to be carefully controlled.

I shot in RAW, so I had leeway over the exposure and set aperture priority and a high f-number, so I woudn't have to worry about focus. Then, to get the exposure about right, I exposed for the sky and used exposure lock before re-composing for the lad, placing him close to one of the rule-of-thirds' power points.

In composing, I made sure I got the diagonal lead-in from the surf, taking the eye to the beach huts and headland. And then I took three or four shots, following the above plan each time.

It was all a bit quick, the lad was off somewhere else almost immediately, so I had to make do with what I'd captured. It had to wait until I got to the digital darkroom before I knew I'd got the shot - and only then after applying a graduated filter to the sky and tweaking the contrast and levels. (I did lose a couple through lens flare, and poor subject interaction / position.)

Ok, I admit it, it sounds like a 10 minute job, but actually I spent a couple of hours on it in the darkroom. Sad perfectionist that I am ;)

I was a bit put out that I got a few blown highlights, less detail around where the sun was breaking through. It's not too bad, though. What do you think?

Stumble It!